Thank you, Joe Girardi, for doing what a manager should do. For getting yourself ejected at a crucial juncture. For firing up your guys and the fans.
Girardi was just ejected for arguing balls and strikes after Derek Jeter was called out on a third strike that was about 2 inches inside. The call was close -- certainly not egregious enough to justify an ejection under normal circumstances -- but Girardi got himself thrown out in about 1.5 seconds, presumably to wake up his players. The Yanks were down 4-0 in the 5th inning of a heavily rain delayed game, and morale was low, as you might expect.
So Girardi makes a fiery exit. The result? Johnny Damon promptly hits a 2-run HR and Mark Teixeira homers on the very next pitch to cut the deficit to 4-3. The fans come alive with a (relative for the NYS) thunderous "Let's go Yankees" chant and Lester promptly throws the next pitch in the dirt. He eventually got out of the inning, but for the first time in a LONG time, the Bombers are playing with some heart. Thank you, Mr. Girardi, for finally motivating your team to play hard...even on a cold, rainy, much-delayed night.
Monday, May 4, 2009
LOB On The Scoreboard?
Peter Abraham said over on his blog when critiquing the scoreboards of the New Yankee Stadium: The linescore also should have LOB.
Peter, there's a reason why they don't have that: the Yankees would have too many for them to count.
Speaking of leaving men on base, Past A Diving Jeter (probably the best name of a Yankee blog ever) says that Mark Teixeira cries like a bitch. Well if he keeps on popping up with men on base, there will be a lot more tears where that comes from.
So far, a pretty pedestrian effort by the Yankees. Glad that 24 was on to distract me for a while.
Why is Angel Berroa out there? Does he serve any purpose? Mike Lamb was a free agent. Please tell me he wouldn't have been better than Berroa. Tony Graffanino was just released by the Indians. I know A-Rod will be back in a few days. But can we have Graffanino until then?
Also, does YES like Big Papi and the Red Sox players getting out of slumps? They talked so much about how much he was slumping coming into the game (like seriously, I know it's a rain delay, but the phrase "ad naseum" comes to mind), you knew he'd have a ton of hits.
Lastly, I'm going to the game tomorrow. Can Joba please hit someone? He seems to be the only person in the rotation with some balls. I ask for two things: a Yankee win and a Red Sox player to hit the ground. Is that too much to ask?
Peter, there's a reason why they don't have that: the Yankees would have too many for them to count.
Speaking of leaving men on base, Past A Diving Jeter (probably the best name of a Yankee blog ever) says that Mark Teixeira cries like a bitch. Well if he keeps on popping up with men on base, there will be a lot more tears where that comes from.
So far, a pretty pedestrian effort by the Yankees. Glad that 24 was on to distract me for a while.
Why is Angel Berroa out there? Does he serve any purpose? Mike Lamb was a free agent. Please tell me he wouldn't have been better than Berroa. Tony Graffanino was just released by the Indians. I know A-Rod will be back in a few days. But can we have Graffanino until then?
Also, does YES like Big Papi and the Red Sox players getting out of slumps? They talked so much about how much he was slumping coming into the game (like seriously, I know it's a rain delay, but the phrase "ad naseum" comes to mind), you knew he'd have a ton of hits.
Lastly, I'm going to the game tomorrow. Can Joba please hit someone? He seems to be the only person in the rotation with some balls. I ask for two things: a Yankee win and a Red Sox player to hit the ground. Is that too much to ask?
A Tale of 2 Citi(fields)
As opening day at Citi Field (Citi) and the New Yankee Stadium (NYS) approached, Andrew and I spoke about how we would each review the new home field for our respective teams. Several weeks ago he published his review of the NYS, seen here. Thanks to my friend Matt I got my first glimpse of Citi on the team's workout day right before the season started on April 5th. It was a bright sunny day and the park looked great. There was no game on the field but Taste of the City, the new concession area, was open, and we got to see the Mets players take BP before they hit the road for the opener in Cincy. I have since been to Citi four more times (I am 3-1!) and now feel qualified to write a review of the facility - so here goes.
Last season my family became Met season ticket holders. We had two seats in the upper-box at Shea stadium right near third base. Our seats were in the second row of the box and offered a view of the ENTIRE playing field. This offseason when the Mets moved into Citi the team offered us "equivalent" seats in the Promenade reserve. They were supposed to offer the same or better sightlines as we had at Shea. After a little deliberation we decided to stay in the "box", and paid up to move down to row 6 of the Promenade Box near third base. I have now sat in these new seats for two games, including a GORGEOUS Saturday afternoon Johan start, and can say with confidence that my seats at Shea Stadium were superior. My new seats, which are NOT advertised as obstructed, are quite obstructed indeed. The way the new park decks hang over the field completely prevents me from seeing pretty much the entire left field corner. If a ball is hit to left and the leftfielder has to go left to his right to play it (in to the corner) odds are I am missing the play completely. At Shea I saw the whole field. At Citi I am spending more, and seeing less. - But hey, there are luxury clubs that I don't have access to, seems like a great "upgrade."
So if you are still with me here you may have noticed that I said my record at Citi was 3-1, but I only sat in my new seasons twice. No typo there - I spent the other two games I saw sitting with friends - one game in the back of the 500s (Promenade Reserved) on the first base side (ok view, similar to my seats), and the other game in the Delta Club, 16 rows behind home plate, dead center. It is from here that the Tale of 2 Citi(fields) begins.
Amenities - The Delta Club seats are on the Sterling Level, an elite section of the ballpark completely segregated from the general population. Behind the seats there is a full floor indoor lounge (The Delta360 Club) complete with a full bar, sit-down restaurant, food counter, coffee shop counter, a viewing window down into the Met batting cages and enough LCD HDTV's to stock the Best Buy on 5th Avenue. The Mets have boasted that Citi Field is equipped with over 800 HDTVs - I'd venture to guess half are in the this area. The Delta Club also boasts beautiful marble bathrooms with urinal dividers and, you guessed it, TVs. By contrast the bathrooms in the rest of the stadium are made of concrete, the urinals are crammed together with no divider walls, and the Mets radio broadcast plays in leiu of TVs.
The Delta Seats - where some, but certainly not all, of the people on this level watch the game. That is if they care, or even know who is playing. Unlike my hard plastic seats in the Promenade, that offer no visible size improvement over Shea (the Mets claim they are bigger by an inch, who knows) the Delta seats are fit for a king, or a modern stadium seating movie theater. They are wide, highbacked and cushioned top to bottom, excellent all around. They offer a cupholder built in to the armrest that is actually slightly in the way - I knocked over my friends water when the Mets actually got a hit with RISP - so score one for the rest of the park with the cupholders mounted on the back of the seat in front of you. The seats, as they did at Shea, have waiter service, with a selection of the best Danny Meyer options from Taste of the City (Shake Shack, the Taqueria and Blue Smoke). Unlike last season, when the delivery menu was marked up over the actual concessions, the menu is priced the same as the offerings out in Center and arrives at your seat, hot, without the 30 minute line.
The View - It is here that the difference between the experience upstairs and the experience in these seats really starts to matter. Unlike my obstructed view seats, the Delta Club seats offer a view of the entire playing field (a minuscule portion of the corners are blocked out by the stands), just like my friend's seats did behind the plate at Shea. His view has improved (less foul ground behind the plate), while mine has drastically degraded.
The truth is there really are two different Citi Fields. My experience on the Sterling Level was one of insulated luxury - at times it barely felt like I was in a ballpark (which in my opinion is terrible). It is a privilege, but one that does not come cheaply - face value for this "value" game was $105 vs. the $21 to sit in my Promenade Box. That cost difference is staggering. You could go to that Friday night game in my seats and then head into Manhattan and have dinner at a premiere steakhouse for about the same money as you spend on the ticket alone in the Delta Club. The Mets have gone to great lengths to make the premium experience distinguishable from the rest of the park - but there remains one major problem
The team on the field is the same heartless, edgeless, soft, lackadaisical bunch, regardless of where you sit. Even in the premium seats you are still treated to the same old team playing the same old game, and for that, a seat on your couch at home is probably the best deal.
Last season my family became Met season ticket holders. We had two seats in the upper-box at Shea stadium right near third base. Our seats were in the second row of the box and offered a view of the ENTIRE playing field. This offseason when the Mets moved into Citi the team offered us "equivalent" seats in the Promenade reserve. They were supposed to offer the same or better sightlines as we had at Shea. After a little deliberation we decided to stay in the "box", and paid up to move down to row 6 of the Promenade Box near third base. I have now sat in these new seats for two games, including a GORGEOUS Saturday afternoon Johan start, and can say with confidence that my seats at Shea Stadium were superior. My new seats, which are NOT advertised as obstructed, are quite obstructed indeed. The way the new park decks hang over the field completely prevents me from seeing pretty much the entire left field corner. If a ball is hit to left and the leftfielder has to go left to his right to play it (in to the corner) odds are I am missing the play completely. At Shea I saw the whole field. At Citi I am spending more, and seeing less. - But hey, there are luxury clubs that I don't have access to, seems like a great "upgrade."
So if you are still with me here you may have noticed that I said my record at Citi was 3-1, but I only sat in my new seasons twice. No typo there - I spent the other two games I saw sitting with friends - one game in the back of the 500s (Promenade Reserved) on the first base side (ok view, similar to my seats), and the other game in the Delta Club, 16 rows behind home plate, dead center. It is from here that the Tale of 2 Citi(fields) begins.
Amenities - The Delta Club seats are on the Sterling Level, an elite section of the ballpark completely segregated from the general population. Behind the seats there is a full floor indoor lounge (The Delta360 Club) complete with a full bar, sit-down restaurant, food counter, coffee shop counter, a viewing window down into the Met batting cages and enough LCD HDTV's to stock the Best Buy on 5th Avenue. The Mets have boasted that Citi Field is equipped with over 800 HDTVs - I'd venture to guess half are in the this area. The Delta Club also boasts beautiful marble bathrooms with urinal dividers and, you guessed it, TVs. By contrast the bathrooms in the rest of the stadium are made of concrete, the urinals are crammed together with no divider walls, and the Mets radio broadcast plays in leiu of TVs.
The Delta Seats - where some, but certainly not all, of the people on this level watch the game. That is if they care, or even know who is playing. Unlike my hard plastic seats in the Promenade, that offer no visible size improvement over Shea (the Mets claim they are bigger by an inch, who knows) the Delta seats are fit for a king, or a modern stadium seating movie theater. They are wide, highbacked and cushioned top to bottom, excellent all around. They offer a cupholder built in to the armrest that is actually slightly in the way - I knocked over my friends water when the Mets actually got a hit with RISP - so score one for the rest of the park with the cupholders mounted on the back of the seat in front of you. The seats, as they did at Shea, have waiter service, with a selection of the best Danny Meyer options from Taste of the City (Shake Shack, the Taqueria and Blue Smoke). Unlike last season, when the delivery menu was marked up over the actual concessions, the menu is priced the same as the offerings out in Center and arrives at your seat, hot, without the 30 minute line.
The View - It is here that the difference between the experience upstairs and the experience in these seats really starts to matter. Unlike my obstructed view seats, the Delta Club seats offer a view of the entire playing field (a minuscule portion of the corners are blocked out by the stands), just like my friend's seats did behind the plate at Shea. His view has improved (less foul ground behind the plate), while mine has drastically degraded.
The truth is there really are two different Citi Fields. My experience on the Sterling Level was one of insulated luxury - at times it barely felt like I was in a ballpark (which in my opinion is terrible). It is a privilege, but one that does not come cheaply - face value for this "value" game was $105 vs. the $21 to sit in my Promenade Box. That cost difference is staggering. You could go to that Friday night game in my seats and then head into Manhattan and have dinner at a premiere steakhouse for about the same money as you spend on the ticket alone in the Delta Club. The Mets have gone to great lengths to make the premium experience distinguishable from the rest of the park - but there remains one major problem
The team on the field is the same heartless, edgeless, soft, lackadaisical bunch, regardless of where you sit. Even in the premium seats you are still treated to the same old team playing the same old game, and for that, a seat on your couch at home is probably the best deal.
More On Yanks/Sox Series
From ESPN.com via Inside Edge:
1. Key hitters ready for Red Sox-Yankees
The Red Sox head to New York for the first time Monday to play at new Yankee Stadium. Home field has meant more to the Yankees over the years -- they have a .591 home winning percentage against the Red Sox in their esteemed history. Over the past two seasons, with most of the same players still playing for their respective teams, the Yankees are 10-8 at home and 9-12 at Fenway.
Certain players tend to be more dialed in than others in the New York portion of this series. Each club has shown the same trend, with a small handful of hitters rising far above their usual performance level when playing in the Bronx and the rest of the lineup playing below their typical ability.
Yankees hitters Derek Jeter and Melky Cabrera excelled. That duo is batting a combined .430 (46-for-107) with eight extra-base hits against the Red Sox at home since 2007. Among other Yankees currently on the roster who have batted more than 12 times at home against the Red Sox, only Johnny Damon is hitting higher than .250.
The Red Sox have been carried by Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia and Mike Lowell when playing in New York. That threesome batted .322 (58-for-180) in the old Yankee Stadium over the past two years. The rest of the Boston lineup struggled.
The top performers on the Yankees have great track records against Monday's starting pitchers no matter the venue. Derek Jeter is 6-for-16 (.375) lifetime against Sox starter Jon Lester -- five of the hits were fastballs driven up the middle or the other way. Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon each have six hits against Lester as well. Phil Hughes was roughed up in his only start against the Red Sox last season, giving up seven runs in two-plus innings at Fenway Park.
Boston Series Starts Tonight
Big series for the Yankees tonight. And while I don't think they need to sweep like the New York Post does, I do think they need to show more heart than they showed in Boston. Phil Hughes could forever endear himself to Yankees fans if he starts the game tonight by throwing high and inside to Jacoby Ellsbury. The Yankees also need to make a change in the bullpen; if Jose Veras comes trotting out of the bullpen in this series, I'm going to be livid. There is no good reason they haven't released him at this point. There HAS to be someone in the minors who would be better than him. Maybe calling up a longman for the bullpen for this Boston series would be a smart idea (Tomko? Fossum? Aceves?). Or calling up another outfielder (such as Juan Miranda or Shelly Duncan) would be good because the bench is extremely thin.
One of the bigger problems for the Yankees are these injuries to key players that have supposedly lingered for a long time. Peter Abraham goes into it as does Rob Neyer but the Yankees NEED to be better at identifying injuries and not letting them affect how a player performs on the field. While Gary Sheffield would let everyone in the world know about his injuries, he would go out there and find a way to play through them. A-Rod, Wang and Marte all supposedly had injuries that they tried to play through and let linger (nevermind Teixeira who has played with a sore wrist for weeks while his average has dove under the Mendoza line). Now the Yankees are without their third baseman and cleanup hitter, a two-time 19-game winner, their 8th inning (with Marte and Bruney out), and have a first baseman who has been lost at the plate lately (though he has been walking quite a bit).
Regardless of their issues, the Yankees need to find a way to come together and win these games against Boston. With the rainout yesterday, they now have Hughes and Joba going in this series. Both need to come up big for this Yankees team because we have no clue what they'll get once the game goes into the 'pen.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
View From The Seats
CC seems to be scuffling out there but keeps moving along. He's already thrown 80 pitches, but the Yankees shouldn't worry because they have a stellar bullpen (*gulp*).
Meanwhile, StubHub and Delta both do a seat upgrade for two seats. Two people in the section next to me won. One guy asked if they could upgrade the section because of so many empty seats downstairs. They may want to think about upgrading rows at this point. There are so many empty seats. Maybe they should think about cutting some more of these prices in half to help out us real people.
-Andrew
Quick Thoughts On An Amazing Game Tonight
It was one of those game I'll always remember being at New Yankee Stadium. It was definitely my most memorably yet in the new park. But there were really three games, each with it's own storyline and I'll give a quick summary here before a more in-depth look at the weekend tomorrow:
Game 1: Yankees score four runs in the first, but after a Posada homerun, Nick Swisher gets drilled on the very next pitch. The Yankees fail to retaliate or get any offensive pressure after.
Game 2: Bad fielding play by Ramiro Pena was 2 outs brings out the problem with Andy Pettitte's scuffling today. Also, being up 0-2 to Napoli and then allowing the hit hurt as well. They went to Melancon in a really tough spot (bases loaded, raining, against the Angels) and he failed. Went to Veras, he was worse. And Edwar Ramirez wasn't much better. Crowd boos awful bullpen.
Game 3: Sustained a rally as those left in the Stadium got into it. Rally really got going with huge contributions from bottom 3 in the order of Gardner, Melky and Pena (who made up for his previous fielding play). Yankees chip away to make it a one-run game and JA keeps the Angels off the board with good bullpen work. Angels don't record an out in the bottom of the 9th as a Teixeira walk, Matsui single (and great piece of hitting), Cano single (how hot is he?) was followed by a two-run, walk-off single by Jorge Posada. The crowd went insane.
10 quick thoughts:
Game 1: Yankees score four runs in the first, but after a Posada homerun, Nick Swisher gets drilled on the very next pitch. The Yankees fail to retaliate or get any offensive pressure after.
Game 2: Bad fielding play by Ramiro Pena was 2 outs brings out the problem with Andy Pettitte's scuffling today. Also, being up 0-2 to Napoli and then allowing the hit hurt as well. They went to Melancon in a really tough spot (bases loaded, raining, against the Angels) and he failed. Went to Veras, he was worse. And Edwar Ramirez wasn't much better. Crowd boos awful bullpen.
Game 3: Sustained a rally as those left in the Stadium got into it. Rally really got going with huge contributions from bottom 3 in the order of Gardner, Melky and Pena (who made up for his previous fielding play). Yankees chip away to make it a one-run game and JA keeps the Angels off the board with good bullpen work. Angels don't record an out in the bottom of the 9th as a Teixeira walk, Matsui single (and great piece of hitting), Cano single (how hot is he?) was followed by a two-run, walk-off single by Jorge Posada. The crowd went insane.
10 quick thoughts:
- Wow. Never thought they'd come back from that...even though, oddly, I sort of did
- Yankees score 4 unanswered, Angels score 9 unanswered and Yankees follow with 6 unanswered. That's amazing
- Jose Veras should be released immediately. The fact he's still on this team is ridiculous. I'm not so sure Edwar Ramirez shouldn't join him. I don't think Melancon should have been in that situation (rain, bases loaded, rookie)...but then again, why do I feel like I've said that a lot for the past year and change with Girardi's moves?
- With the year/offseasons of Melky, Gardner and Pena, how great was it that the played big roles in the rally?
- Yankees need to learn to show heart after getting hit. Pettitte has to go out there and bean someone to retaliate for Swish getting drilled (and knocked out of the game and probably the rest of the series)
- Pettitte needs to figure out how to hold guys on third base with a lefty at bat. This is going to kill him all season if he doesn't.
- It was my first time sitting in the Grandstand tonight (section 433). Actually not a bad view from up there.
- With the price of Stubhub tickets ($4 tonight in the section next to mine), I'm not buying any tickets from the Yankees for the rest of the season.
- CC needs to have a nice, long outing tomorrow. Tex needs to send a message someplace because the fans are getting antsy (.180 average can do that despite 18 walks so far). Yankees need to get into that bullpen...it's terrible and tired.
- My mom asked my dad: "do you think Andrew left early when they were down?" My dad's response: "Andrew never leaves these games early". And true to his word, despite a ton of the crowd having left, I sat in my seats and had faith. What a comeback. What a win. Now they guarantee themselves a split of the 4-game series against a team that has KILLED them in the past 15 years and if they win tomorrow (with me there again), they win a 4 game series against them.
Friday, May 1, 2009
I'm Willing To Give Melky The Benefit Of The Doubt
Back 9:
1. Some have claimed I'm too harsh on Melky Cabrera. The truth is that I love the Melk Man. He got off to one of the roughest starts when the Yankees first brought him up as a very, very young man in a forgettable series in Fenway. And he's had times where he's looked focused at the plate. But I always felt that the Yankees handed everything to him too easily like they did to Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. And look what happened now that they decided to give a challenge to those three: Melky is hitting, Phil Hughes is back up in the majors and Ian Kennedy is dominating in the minors. Sometimes all you need to do is find a way to light a fire under these guys asses.
2. I wrote about Melky back on February 6th and said that he looked a lot like Johnny Damon through the same age (and Bernie is another example). Here is what I said: "One they keys to [Damon's] success seems to be that he cut down on his Ks and increased his walks. If Melky can do the same--and be much more selective at the pitches he DOES swing at since his batting average of balls in play (BABIP) has decreased every year as well (though increased greatly in his 2008 minor league stint)--then I'm willing to put him back into the mix. But he needs to come into camp in shape and willing to change his approach at the plate and he should look no further than Damon to see the results of doing so." And look what happened? He seems to be focused (maybe it's him and Cano realizing they both had to get their acts together), and according to Fangraphs his BB/K ratio is up to .75, his BABIP is up to .324, his line drive % is up, his fly ball % is down, and he his a HR 44.4% of the time he hits flyballs which is very good.
3. But he also started hot last season and fizzled off so I'm not ready to appoint him the starting CF. Brett Gardner is still superior on defense and with speed but so far has yet to hit like I thought he would (or at least get on base how I thought he would). But Melky's problem is sometimes losing focus in big spots, especially when he starts to hit a lot of HRs. Last year his early season HR success had him uppercutting everything in flying out a lot or popping up in big spots where he can get the runner home. Already he has 4 GIDPs and has had a couple of situations he tried to do too much.
4. A prime example of this was the afternoon game on April 22nd which he ended with a homerun. He could have ended it 7 innings earlier, though, by putting his bat on the ball with the bases loaded. Instead, he swung at a pitch over his head trying to do too much. Last night, though, he did exactly what he needed to as the New York Times wrote. And, in some ways, he looked a lot like Abreu wearing his number. The reason I always felt Abreu was successful for the Yankees is he took pitches and then, when he saw his pitch, he had a nice, easy swing through the strike zone and hit it where it was pitched. Melky last year refused to do either one. It's a real good sign to see him and Cano taking pitches and going to the opposite field. And both look relaxed yet focused out there. A good, early sign for the Yankees
5. Another person who looked comfortable last night was Phil Coke. He was fired up after getting in his inning of work and you almost feel like finally he's found his comfort level again with the Yankees after being moved around a lot early in the season into different roles. If Bruney comes back soon, I think (mostly hope) the back of the bullpen should be fine with Coke, Melancon and Bruney.
6. Speaking of pitching, FanGraphs reviewed the Yankees last few drafts and the 2006 one definitely seems like the best: In terms of pitching, this is one of the best drafts in recent memory for any team. The club found Ian Kennedy, Joba Chamberlain, Zach McAllister, George Kontos, Dellin Betances, Mark Melancon, Daniel McCutchen (traded to PIT), and David Robertson. One place the Yankees have been bad at drafting: position players. And with a growing list of top flight young centerfielders (from FanGraphs) and catchers (from ESPN and Baseball Prospectus), and with a great organization void exposed with A-Rod's injury this year, the team should try to focus on finding/developing the next wave of position players (although they do have two really good catching prospects in Montero and Romine).
7. Baseball-Reference.com asks if David Ortiz is finished and has some stats for their argument. Boy, I hope the answer is yes. Though I hope, when Big Papi is done, he starts a blog something like what Freddie Mitchell has (that mailbag is AMAZING).
8. Let's have some news about other ballparks: Mets Police asks whose ballpark Citi/Taxpayer Field really is anyways and Yahoo!'s Big League Stew shows SCARY pictures about what Wrigley Field would look like post-apocalyptic (extremely scary in the wake of this Swine Flu scare) from the History Channel.
9. I'm supposed to head to the Yankees games tonight and tomorrow afternoon and I'm NOT excited by New Stadium Insider's look at the weekend weather. My one hope: I've gone to four games, the weather forecast was for rain four times, and they didn't even have a delay once and three times in was clear skies by gametime. Let's pray because we want this Yankee momentum to continue tonight.
Free Pizza and Snapple Lunches In NYC Next Week
Moving away from sports for a post...From The 405 Club, a great blog for the unemployed in NY (H/T Zack)
SNAPPLE AND A SLICE FOR FREE.
Joe’s will be taking part in a Snapple free-lunch promotion next week.
I just received a press release you all might be interested in. Snapple is doing some sort of marketing gimmick next week in which it’s giving away free pizza lunches to the first 500 folks to show up at the following pizzerias (listed after the jump). All of the week’s promotions start at 10:30 a.m. and last until the 500th person is served.
Monday, May 4
Spinelli Pizza
425 Seventh Avenue
New York NY
(b/n 33rd and 34th streets)
Tuesday, May 5
Famous Joe’s Pizza
7 Carmine Street
New York NY
(b/n Bleecker Street and Sixth Avenue)
Wednesday, May 6
Silver Spoon Diner
58-21 Junction Boulevard
Queens NY
Thursday, May 7
My Little Pizza
114 Court Street
Brooklyn NY
(b/n Atlantic Avenue and State Street)
Friday, May 8
Mezza Lunna Pizza
98 Eighth Avenue
New York NY
(at 15th Street)
-By Adam Kuban, Writer of Slice
I Don't Care About A-Rod Using Steroids...Seriously, I Don't
Starting 9: 5/1/09
1. So I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I don't care that Alex Rodriguez used steroids. Let's pretend for a second that none of the pitchers he faced took steroids or HGH and that none of the hitters on any other teams he faced used steroids. Let's call that the Red Sox Theorem (which is proven by the George Mitchell Corollary). Even with all those other factors in mind, I only care about one thing: production. A-Rod has a lot worse on his resume for the Yankees than steroids. Failure in the postseason and the big spot being a big one, especially in 2004. So forgive me for not worrying about steroids. As I said before, we all hate Carl Pavano now for not trying. If had taken steroids and HGH to recover from injuries and had been great for the Yankees, would there be any question we would have embraced him? If Alex Rodriguez leads the Yankees to the World Series this year, I won't give two shits about whether he stuck a needle in his butt a few years ago.
2. So after Brian Bruney went down, Phil Hughes pitched a gem (after some felt the pressure was on him), and Joba struggled for a start, the "Joba-to-the-'pen" talk ratcheted up again. Some people felt it was his fastball. Others felt now the pressure was on to perform. Rob Neyer acknowledged it as "The Discussion That Just Won't Die". And then he went out and threw a gem and, for now, some people shut up. I think Peter Abraham put it best (tongue-in-cheek at the end): Here is Joba’s line: 7 3 1 1 3 6. He is 4-1 with a 2.85 ERA as a starter. By all means, let’s return him to the bullpen.
3. Besides the Joba start, the Yankees had a few other pitching performances to hang their hats on this week: Phil Hughes and Mark Melancon. Tyler Kepner (who was interviewed this week by WasWatching) predicts they won't go back to the minors. They envision Hughes to fill the role he was supposed to fill last year and Melancon they view as a set up man for this year and a potential closer-in-waiting for when Rivera leaves.
4. My favorite part of the A-Rod situation is the ridiculous stuff that comes out of it. "He's a bad tipper at Hooters!" or "He's jealous of Derek Jeter" or "He brushes his teeth after every game". Just funny stuff in my mind. But let's hope everyone gets it out of their system now so that when he returns to the Bronx, he can go back to hitting homeruns in Coors Field East. But for some of the ridiculousness: ESPN.com on Selena Roberts' book, NBC Sports on assessing the allegations, Peter Abraham's thoughts on the matter, and Deadspin on today's New York Daily News "bombshells". Some of this stuff is just too funny.
5. I have to disagree with a few Yankee writers (including WFAN's Sweeny Murti) who criticize this team for not spending more on relievers. One of the teams BIGGEST problems, I think, has been spending too much money on mediocre relievers. This is the same team that threw oodles of dollars at Steve Karsay, Kyle Farnsworth, Paul Quantrill (who, to be fair, was good for a while before he just sucked the big one as well), and others. They did the same thing last offseason with Marte. The problem is that, except for a few notable exceptions, relievers are truly replaceable parts. They work at times. Other times, they fail miserably. So if you sign a mediocre guy to big money, you're stuck with them. That's what's happened to the Yanks: they've gotten stuck with bad relievers. And the problem is, they continue to use them. I rather have guys like Veras, JA, and Edwar Ramirez who can be disposed off pretty quickly and easily if they suck. And I much, much rather give the opportunity to young power arms like Dave Robertson and Mark Melancon. But just in case they want a veteran in their this summer, they can always go and trade for these guys (though I don't believe the Yankees have EVER acquired a reliever midseason who has been good...EVER)
6. A little more on the Yankees ticket price reduction. Darren Rovell tells us how we got to this point. Newsday says how they're still ridiculously unaffordable. Lastly, the New York Times says that other ticket holders deserve a break too. And I totally agree with this article. Though I enjoy getting $70 seats for $10 on Stubhub a few days before the game, I rather be able to buy them directly from the Yankees for a more reasonable price.
7. Other Yankee news: New Yankee Stadium's beer selection is subpar according to the New York Times, more on the Hideki Irabu era not being over yet from Deadspin, and, I never thought I'd say this, but the key to a Yankee win the past week was a patient, drawn-out Robinson Cano at bat according to the Detroit Free Press. The last part is a huge key for the Yankees. If Cano can continue to be patient and hit like he's hitting, they will have a ridiculously dangerous lineup once A-Rod is back.
8. I am a convert to statistics and now I used them a lot in my posts. But some stats are just fun, mostly useless stats. Here are a few of those stats from the past week for the Yankees:
From Peter Abraham: According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the one combined earned run allowed on Tuesday by 22-year-old Phil Hughes (6.0 IP, 0 ER) and on Wednesday by 23-year-old Joba Chamberlain (7.0 IP, 1 ER) marked the first time the Yankees had starters that young allow one earned run or less in consecutive games since 5/29-30/1981, when 22- year-old Dave Righetti (8.0 IP, 1 ER) and 20-year-old Gene Nelson (5.2 IP, 0 ER) accomplished the feat in consecutive wins at Cleveland. (Thanks to the Yankees for that note).
More from Peter Abraham: According to SABR’s Trent McCotter (via the Yankees), Cano is one of only three Yankees over the last 50 years to record a hit in 30 of31 games with an official at-bat, joining Don Mattingly (31-of-32, 7/19-8/21/85) and Derek Jeter (39-of-40 twice, 4/8-5/25/07 and 8/20/06-4/6/07).
From Buster Olney: The Yankees became the second team in major league history to break a scoreless tie with a 10-run inning after the sixth inning. The first occurred during a Dodgers-Reds game in 1919.
9. Yesterday was a good day for NYaT. We got picked up by The Big Lead and Awful Announcing. Thank you David Cone and your dirty mind. Speaking of Coney, reading this bio on him, the man really did have an interesting career (to say the least)
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